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letting go of the ego... embracing who you really are.

at the dojo of my meditation teacher, BeBe Wolfe

as of late, i have been reading a lot about the ego from such metaphysical authors as Marianne Williamson and U.S Anderson. because i have been reading this type of material for a while now, i thought i had moved beyond my ego... i was confident that i had it in check. "of course, i don't have an ego problem... i'm on a spiritual path", i would tell myself. but that was just the ego's way of entering the house from the back door. 

you see, the ego is the part of us that we believe in. it's our story. whoever you think you are and whatever you do makes up the egoic myth. it limits us to our own irrational thinking and blocks us from the miracles that occur naturally as a part of the divine order. i love how Dr. Wayne Dyer defines it as Edging God Out. so whenever we are absorbed in our thinking or trying to solve our own problems, even the most minute ones, we are coming from our limited, fear-based perspective.

when we break free of the ego's control, we are liberated because we find out that we are all the same. there is no "me, me, me and you, you, you." this sense of separation is what causes us to think we have to compete with one another, or that we can afford not to help each other, among other things. 

so there are really only two options: to think from the egoic mind or pray that our mind is elevated to the divine mind-- that place Paul was referencing in Phillipians 2:5 when he wrote "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus." 

 the relinquishing of the ego is the work of our lifetimes and is absolutely necessary for us to experience the fullness of life. i will continue to contemplate this for the month of October and share my insights.

and as always, we would love to hear from you. tell us your definition of the ego and how it shows up in your life by emailing us at spiritualanthropology@gmail.com or by commenting in the comment section below.

 here's to another month full of possibility!



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